Getting Schooled in the Savings of Sustainability

Academic Solutions, a tutoring and learning center in Marietta, occupies a residential house that has been converted into office and classroom space – a pleasant environment that does not feel “institutional” — where students of all ages can learn study strategies and boost their SAT and ACT scores. “We don’t have any trees around us for shade, though, and our utility bills were averaging around $550 a month,” says owner and director Bob Hoyer.

A Georgia Green Loan of $35,000 enabled Academic Solutions to install eight solar panels, and the tutor learned a valuable lesson of his own: going green cuts costs. The panels have slashed his utility bills in half, for a savings of an estimated $3,600 per year. “It feels good to do something that saves my business money while making it more sustainable and helping the environment at the same time,” Hoyer says. “Any small-business owner will tell you that’s a significant savings, which leaves more money for us to spend on other resources, and ACE made it easy by cutting through all the red tape for us,” Hoyer says.

Academic Solutions typically serves 150 students at any given time, and Hoyer estimates that, since its inception 13 years ago, more than 5,000 have benefited from the individualized attention they receive. “We not only help them boost their grades and scores,” he says, “but we also give them skills they can apply the rest of their lives, which gives them more overall self-confidence.”